RADIOSaturday's game will be broadcast live on the Appalachian IMG Sports Network. Live coverage begins at 10 a.m. with Pigskin Prelude. Locally, you can hear the game on AM 1450, WATA.

NOTING SATURDAY'S MATCHUP• Appalachian State is coming off of an 8-4 season and its seventh-straight NCAA Division I Football Championship appearance in2011. However, Appalachian had its streaks of six-straight Southern Conference championships, 10-win campaigns and seasons with at least one postseason win snapped in 2011.

• Appalachian is ranked No. 6 in The Sports Network’s preseason NCAA Division I FCS poll (media) and No. 5 in the American Football Coaches Association’s preseason FCS poll. The rankings mark the first time since 2005 that the Mountaineers are not ranked among the top three in the preseason FCS polls.

• Appalachian State and East Carolina are squaring off for the 31st time on the gridiron but only the second time since 1979.

• Appalachian leads the all-time series with its former conference rival, 19-11, but has not defeated ECU since 1975 (five-straight losses) and has not won in Greenville since 1959 (six-straight losses).

• In its last visit to East Carolina in 2009, Appalachian nearly rallied all the way back from a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit but fell, 29-24.

• Appalachian is opening the season versus an NCAA Division I FBS (formerly Division I-A) opponent for the 16th time in 21 years.

• Since joining the NCAA Division I FCS (formerly Division I-AA) ranks in 1982, Appalachian is 7-31-1 against FBS/I-A competition.

• Ironically, the season opener at East Carolina falls on the fifth anniversary of the Mountaineers’ most recent and notable victory over an FBS opponent, a 34-32 triumph at No. 5 (AP) Michigan on Sept. 1, 2007.

• Thanks to commanding series leads over former conference foes ECU and Marshall (14-8), Appalachian State is 33-20 all-time versus current members of Conference USA. The Mountaineers own winning records against the current membership of four FBS conferences — C-USA (33-20), the Sun Belt (6-5), the Western Athletic Conference (1-0) and the Big Ten (1-0).

• Appalachian is opening the season on the road for the 11th-straight year.

• East Carolina is led by a pair of former Mountaineers. ECU head coach Ruffin McNeill was an assistant coach under Jerry Moore atAppalachian State for seven seasons (1989-91, 1993-96) and associate head coach John Wiley was a member of Moore’s Appalachian staff for 19 years (1989-90, 1993-2009).

• Appalachian announced its captains for the 2012 campaign on Thursday. The captains, as selected by their teammates, are seniorrunning back Rod Chisholm, senior linebacker Brandon Grier, junior quarterback Jamal Jackson, senior linebacker Jeremy Kimbrough and senior safety Troy Sanders.

For complete coverage of Saturday's matchup, including links to live video, audio and stats, both teams' rosters, depth charts, game notes and much more, visit GoASU.com's official Gameday Central page.